Brass and packing guard for car-axle boxes



H. D. PADGET. BRASS AND PACKING GUARD FOR CAR AXLEBOXES.

APPLiCATION FILED JULY 30. 1920.

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HENRY D. FPADGEE, 035 ST. LOUIS, MISSCBURI.

Application filed July 30, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY D. lnnonr, a citizen of the United States, residing at thecity of .dt. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brass and Packing Guards for Car- Axle Boxes, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawi *rming a part thereof.

My invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter particularly described and distinctly claimed. p

The object of my invention is to provide a brass protector and packing-guard, or attaclnnent for car axle-boxes. whichshall so preserve the packing-material, and which shall be so economical in the use of oil or other lubricant that it will only be necessary to pack the boi: once each year, instead of every day or oftener, as is necessary with the axle-box constructions h retofore known to me.

Heretofore, the axle-boxes have operated most satisfactorily inhot weather, and have been least efiicient in cold weather, because the lubricant is kept warm and thin in hot weather, and so reaches the surfaces of the journals and brasses, while in cold weather the lubricant congeals and fails in many instances to prevent the journal from overheating, cutting and breaking; causing wrecks and damage, to say nothing of loss of life and limb.

A further object of in Y invention is to provide a brass protector and packing guard which shall prevent accidental lateral displacement of the journal and'positively lock,

the packing in the axle-box, and thereby prevent it from being stolen.

Heretofore, car axle-boxes have been robbed by tramps and boys, and the stolen packing has been used to build fires by such persons in cold weather; the packing being cold and gummy crowds its way out of the front of the box and drops upon the ground and is lost; while at other times the packing heaps up against the lid of the box, leaving the journal and brass bare and devoid of any lubrication, with the inevitable result of a hot box and possible accident, because ofv the Babbitt or other soft metal lining melting from the brass bearing and allowing cutting to take place.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial 3370. 400,279.

After the journal has been worn or cut, as just described, repacking after cooling, has prevented the cut journal from burning completely oil, if discovered in time; but in many instances the hot box and cut journal have not been discovered in time to prevent a wreck of the train, killing and maiming passengers, if the train be a passengen train; or, if the train be a freight train carrying oil tank-ears filled with gasolene or other inflammable material, such cars have been blown up by a hot box, causing loss of'life, and destroying millions of (lollars worth of property, entailing costly damage-suits.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side-elevation of a truck construction, having my invention applied to the axle-box thereof, the lid of the box being opened up, to show the interior.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the preferred form of my brass protector and packing-guard, detached from the axle-box.

Fig. 3 is an end-elevation of the guard.

Fig. lis a side-elevation of the axle-box shown in Fig. 1, with parts in section.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a modified, or simplified, form of my packing-guard, detached, and

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of said modified form.

The numeral 1 designates the side-frame of the car-truck; 2 the usual axle-box having the customary hinged lid 3 and supported upon the journal 4 of the axle 5 by means of the well-known bearing-brass 6 and wedges '7 and 8 designates one of the car-wheels.

The body of. my brass protector and packing-guard consists of a fiat plate 9 having series of oil-passages or slits 10 formed in it, and a vertical upstanding integral flange 11 at each end of said plate.

The packing-guard thus formed, is preferably made of metal, and it is fixed within I the outer end of the axle-box 2, with said body or flat plate 9 resting upon the body of packing 12 thereat, to hold the latter in place at all times during the operation of the car; there being perforations 14 formed in the said vertical end-flanges 11 of said plate, through which are passed bolts or other fastening-devices 15, to lock said flanges securely to the vertical side-walls of the said axle-box.

The said bolts or fastenings 15 have their bodies passed through apertures formed in the vertical side-walls of said axle-box 2 which register with the perforations 1a of said vertical end-flanges 11 of the guard, and

the heads of said bolts are rounded to pre-- nal 4, and thereat bear upon and press downwardly the packing 12 throughout almost the entire length of said journal. T he said fingers 16 act as solid abutments, to limit the lateral movement of the said journal 4 in the box; said fingers being made of a body of metal which is practically incompressible, so that when the car is jerked back and forth, in switching and coupling operations, the journal is effectually held against accidental displacement, would otherwise occur, and cause the brass 6 to be broken in two and rendered worthless. See Fig. 1.

The said oil-passages or slits 10 in the body'of the guard, permit oil or other lubricant to be supplied to the packing, when desired, without removing the guard.

In axle-boxes that have no room at theside of the journal for the insertion of the fingers 16, the form of guard shown in Figs.

which 5 and 6 should be used, as that form is devoid of such fingers.

solid abutments which fill the spaces at the sides of the journal, and prevent the accidental displacement or breakage out the j ournal brass by undue lateral movement of said journal; said flat body and said solid abutments resting upon and retaining the packing in said box; in combination with bolts which fasten said solid abutments and said flat body in place upon the interior of said axle-box.

2. A journal-brass and packing protector for car axle-boxes, comprising a flat plate of metalhaving a series of oil passages in it; a vertical integral perforated flange at each end of said plate; two integral parallel solid metallic abutments' projecting from said plate, and adapted to be placed in the spaces between the journal and the side walls of the box, to receive the I lateral thrusts of said journal, and prevent the accidental displacement or breakage of the journal-brass; and bolts which pass through the perforations of said flange at each end of said flat plate, and lock the said protector in said axle-box.

HENRY D. PADGET.

Witnesses WINIFRED MoHALE, JOHN C. HIGDON. 

